Job 39
1 "Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched the birth-pains of the deer?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
Do you know how many months they carry their young? Do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, they end their labor pains.
They crouch down in labor to deliver their offspring.
4 Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and do not return again.
Their young grow strong in the open countryside; they leave and never return.
5 "Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
Who gave the wild donkey its freedom? Who set it free from its bonds?
6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?
I have given it the wilderness as its home, the salt plains as a place to live.
7 He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
It despises the noise of the city; it doesn't need to listen to the shouts of a driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
It hunts in the mountains for pastureland, searching for all kinds of green plants to eat.
9 "Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger?
10 Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
Can you tie a wild ox to a plow? Can you make it till your fields for you?
11 Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
Because it's so powerful can you trust it? Can you depend on it to do your heavy work for you?
12 Will you have faith in him, that he will bring in your grain, and gather it to your threshing floor?
Are you sure it will gather your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
The ostrich proudly flaps her wings, but they are nothing like the flight feathers of the stork.
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
The ostrich abandons her eggs on the ground, leaving them to be warmed in the dust.
15 and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.
She doesn't think that they can be crushed underfoot, trampled by a wild animal.
16 She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
She is tough towards her young, acting as if they didn't belong to her. She doesn't care that all her work was for nothing.
17 because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
For I, God, made her forget wisdom—she didn't get her share of intelligence.
18 When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
But when she needs to, she can jump up and run, mocking a horse and its rider with her speed.
19 "Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
Did you give the horse its strength? Did you place a mane upon its neck?
20 Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
Did you make it able to jump like a locust? Its loud snorting is terrifying!
21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.
It paws at the ground, rearing up with power as it charges into battle.
22 He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.
It laughs at fear; it is not frightened at all.
23 The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.
The quiver full of arrows rattles against it; the spear and the javelin flash in the sunlight.
24 He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
Shaking with rage it gallops across the ground; it cannot remain still when the trumpet sounds.
25 As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha.' He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Whenever the trumpet calls, it is ready; he senses the sound of battle from far away, he hears the commanders shouting.
26 "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?
Is it through your wisdom that the hawk soars, spreading its wings towards the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?
Do you command the eagle to fly high and make its nest in the summits of the mountains?
28 On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, on the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
It lives among the cliffs, and roosts on a remote rocky crag.
29 From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
From there it spies its prey from far away, fixing its gaze on its victim. Its chicks eagerly swallow blood.
30 His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is."
Where the carcasses are, that's where birds of prey are found.”
